Joanne (Krupski) Mitchell ... active in church; at 89

SOMERSWORTH - Joanne Elizabeth (Krupski) Mitchell, 89, of Somersworth, died peacefully surrounded by her family on Friday, Nov. 18, at home from cancer. She was born on June 27, 1933, in Woburn, Mass., to Peter and Anna (Narkiewich) Krupski, of Woburn. She grew up in Woburn until her family moved to Marblehead, Mass., in 1948. She is predeceased by her sisters, Helen Krupski and M. Bette Kurgas, and her brother, Paul Krupski. She graduated from Marblehead High in 1950, and it was there that she met her husband-to-be, Donald D. Mitchell, Jr. They were together for almost 60 years and married for 51 years.

She went on to graduate from business school with high honors and later graduated from the Bay State Academy in airline business, and was valedictorian of her class. Joanne worked for Pan American World Airways, in Boston for a few years, and then General Electric, in Lynn, Mass., until her marriage in 1957.

Joanne and Don moved to Wolfeboro in the late 1960s to raise their family. She was a homemaker who deeply loved her children, nieces and nephews. She was a good friend to many and always ready to help the community, whether it be teaching CCD, chaperoning her children's field trips, running bake or book sales, or helping at school in the lunch room. She was the head of the Catholic Women's Club at St. Cecilia's, in Wolfeboro. She attended all her children's sports and school events, cheering them on. Joanne and Don lived on a small farm and canning was a part of her daily life. She also enjoyed knitting, sewing, and crocheting, and was always working on a project to gift to someone.

In 1990, Joanne and Don moved to Pittsburg. Having raised her children, she returned to work, and was employed at the Coos County Nursing Hospital for 13 years. She worked in the special care unit, and felt that in her later years, this was her chosen work. In Pittsburg, she was a proud member of Aurora Grange #235. She also served the Pittsburg community in the Farnham Methodist Church, and enjoyed making articles for them to raffle.

She is survived by her two children, a son; Stephen D. Mitchell of Wakefield, and his fiancé, Sherri Ethier, and her daughter; Jennifer K. Tuthill, and her husband William of Somersworth, six grandchildren; Derek and Jesse Mitchell, Michelle (Katz) Veilleux and her husband, Benjamin, Aaron Katz, and Brooke and Chloe Tuthill; and two great-grandchildren; Oliver and Genevieve Veilleux, and many nieces, nephews, cousins, extended family, and close friends, all of whom she loved dearly.